1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to a method of tracking the movement of the eyeball, and, more particularly, to a method of tracking the movement of the eyeball in eyeball tumor treatment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, a method using radiation is widely used as a method of treating tumors such as a cancer. Such a tumor treatment method using radiation is also used as a method of treating the tumor of the eyeball. Meanwhile, recently, a method of treating the tumor of the eyeball using a proton beam has been developed and used.
FIG. 1 is a graph illustrating the characteristics of a proton beam and X-rays, and shows the transmission characteristics of a proton beam and X-rays in a human body.
A proton beam treatment is a kind of radiation treatment.
That is, radiation treatment is configured to destroy cancer cells by radiating X-rays or an electron beam (or a proton beam) onto a human body. However, X-rays that have been widely used in patient treatment up to now have a problem in that it is difficult to avoid a side effect because they damage all tissues along the path thereof, as shown in FIG. 1.
However, a proton beam emits almost all energy immediately before stopping in a human body and becomes extinguished, unlike X-rays. This is a unique phenomenon that appears in a proton beam. A point at which energy is concentrically emitted is referred to as a ‘Bragg peak’. That is, the side effect can be reduced because radiation does not reach normal tissues located behind the Bragg peak, and the point of generation of the peak may vary with the intensity of the beam and the material through which the beam passes. Accordingly, when the intensity of the proton beam to be transmitted through a human body is adjusted, it is possible to accurately aim only at cancer cells and destroy them, so that it can be considered that the treatment method using a proton beam is superior to the treatment method using X-rays.
However, although the eyeball tumor treatment using a proton beam has many advantages compared to treatment using general photon rays as described above, there is a problem in that the advantages may be disadvantages at the same time.
That is, the method of treating a tumor using a proton beam can maximize the treatment effect because it is possible to adjust a treatment range to a desired depth and thickness, but a side effect may occur due to the excessive radiation of a proton beam onto normal human body tissues when a patient's treatment location varies during proton beam treatment. In particular, in the case of the eyeball, there is a problem in that a critical side effect may occur.